Jacek Kaspszyk is a 1975 graduate of the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw (today the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music) and the winner of Third Prize at the acclaimed Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition.
He has conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Wiener Symphoniker, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Cincinnati Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
The artist is also very active as an opera conductor. In 1976 he took the post of guest conductor of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, and later worked with the English National Opera, Opera North in Leeds, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Opéra Comique in Paris, opera houses in Lyon, Bordeaux, Zurich, and Stockholm, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
In 1998 he became Artistic and Music Director, and in 2002 also Director General, of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera in Warsaw. In 2007-08, he collaborated closely with the Lithuanian National Opera, which he took to festivals in Ljubljana, Ravenna and Tel Aviv.
In 2011, he received the prestigious Elgar Medal. For several years, by a special invitation from Martha Argerich, he has been a regular guest at the Lugano Festival.
Since the beginning of his career, the conductor has collaborated regularly with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice – from 1978 as its first conductor, and from 1980 as well as between 2009 and 2012 as its Music Director. From 2006 until 2013 he was Artistic Director of the Witold Lutosławski Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Wrocław.
Since September 2013, Jacek Kaspszyk has been Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic, leading the orchestra during the first concerts broadcast live online in its history. In May 2015, he took the musicians on a critically acclaimed tour around the UK.
Jacek Kaspszyk has recorded many albums, and his interpretation of Szymanowski’s King Roger with the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera (CD Accord) was nominated as the BBC Music Magazine Awards Disc of the Year. A Gramophone magazine reviewer wrote about this release, “On every count, including pennies, this sweeps the board.”
photo: Sophie Wright